News Brief 27 February 2015

Submitted by claudiaobrien on Fri, 27/02/2015 - 08:02

By Claudia O’Brian

It’s the second week of Fair Pay Fortnight – part of the TUC’s Britain Needs a Pay Rise campaign. It aims to raise awareness about low pay, pay inequality and the need for higher pay settlements in the public and private sector. Click on the icon to access the great resources and infographics available. Join the debate on twitter: #fairpayfortnight

There’s plenty in the news this week that shows how in need of fair pay British workers are. Click through on the stories below to read more.

Blogs

Extending Rights for Workers

By Andrew James, Solicitor

The proliferation of zero-hour contracts is quite gaining attention. However, Andrew James points out that “ZHCs are simply one of a number of different forms of exploitative employment relationship which now exist in the type of casualised and de-regulated labour market that characterises many Western economies”. In this blog, James analyses the legislation allowing for an increasingly unequal relationship between employee and employer, and offers some suggestions moving forward…

Read the full blog here…

News

ILO upholds right to strike

Following a worldwide trade union campaign to defend it, the right to strike has been re-affirmed at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva.

Zero-hours contracts on the rise

 UK companies used 1.8 million zero-hours contracts last summer, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show. This has increased from last January’s 1.4 million. On average, someone on a zero-hours contract works around 25 hours a week – compared to 37 hours per week for those not on the contracts. A third of them say they want more hours.

Council and NHS employers are not doing enough to limit zero-hours contracts

Wednesday’s (26 February) ONS statistics showed the number of workers trapped on zero-hours contracts has now reached 1.8 million. Given the exploitative nature of the contracts, public sector employers are not doing enough to curb their use. Zero-hours contracts became popular in the late 1980s and 90s, but it is in the last ten years that their popularity has really boomed – rising by 25% in 2012 alone. Increasingly, their use has extended to high skilled and white collar staff. Maternity rights, holiday and sick pay, job security and financial stability are becoming further out of reach for the majority of the UK workforce.

Modern Slavery Bill debated in Lords

 This Wednesday (February 25) the Modern Slavery Bill went through report stage in the House of Lords. The Bill is intended to strengthen protections against forced labour and human trafficking. Although a welcome and necessary step, we reported in December that the Modern Slavery Bill doesn’t do enough – particularly because it does not provide for adequate victim protection.

Conservatives’ migration target missed

Immigration has hit the headlines this week with the news that the government has completely failed to reach its target of reducing net annual immigration to 100,000, “no ifs, no buts” – a target that should never have been set in the first place.

Five million earn below the living wage

A shocking 5 million UK workers out of a 30.6 million strong workforce earn below the living wage, TUC research has revealed. One in five workers are on less than £7.85 (£9.15 in London) – calculated as the minimum needed to sustain a decent but basic standard of living. TUC analysis has revealed some particular blackspots – the constituency of Birmingham Northfield has the highest proportion of below living wage workers – 53% of men and 63% of women.

Public procurement regulations rushed through

New public procurement regulations have come into force today (27 February). The public procurement regulations were first laid before parliament on 5 February of this year. Just 22 days later they have come into force, as the government scrambles to push through legislation before the general election. The EU directive on public procurement was passed in March 2014, and governments were given until April 2016 to pass the directive until law. Most countries are making use of the full time given.

New on the Coalition Timeline

Click here to see the Coalition Timeline

Pay and Benefits

TUC: Executive pay is set by out of touch elite

Low pay commission: minimum wage should be at £6.70

Economy

Unpaid overtime contributes £32bn to UK economy

New Collective Bargaining Video – Why we need it

To mark #fairpayfortnight we have released a video on collective bargaining. What is it? Why do we need it? What will be the consequences of its restoration? Keith Ewing and John Hendy explain all…

Watch the collective bargaining video here

IER Manifesto for Collective Bargaining

Read the ten-point manifesto

Buy the book

VIDEOS: Watch the experts

PODCASTS: Listen to the experts

Forthcoming Events

International Women’s Day, 2015

People’s History Museum, Manchester

8 March 2015, 2pm-5pm

In the five years that the Coalition Government has been in power, women and families have born the brunt of their so-called ‘austerity’ cuts. To celebrate International Women’s Day, Thomson’s Solicitors are holding an event in Manchester. The programme of events includes a discussion on ending apartheid in Palestine, a short play – Soledad – one woman’s experience of the Spanish Civil War and a panel of women MPs discussing why we need to vote. For more information contact teerenasmith@thompsons.law.co.uk

Employment law after the election: what do we want?, The Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool

Wednesday 25th March 2014
Following the tremendous success of the IER’s What We Want conference in London on 11 February, a similar, half-day event will take place in Liverpool to allow more people to engage in the debate. The conference will be a key event in the run-up to the general election, asking how the lives and living standards of Britain’s population can be improved under a new government.

It has been said that the next general election will be won or lost on the issue of employment rights. Little wonder. Whether it’s the growth in zero hour contracts, the attacks on pension provision, the destruction of collective bargaining, the limitation on trade union action to defend workers, the exploitation of agency workers, the restrictions on access to justice or the ease with which employers can impose mass redundancies – workers and their families can see the injustices in the system and want change.

A summary of the London event is available to read here.

What laws do you want after the election? Let us know on #ierwhatwewant.

Can unions stay within the law any longer?

Bill Wedderburn Lecture addressed by Len McCluskey, 19 March 2015

This meeting will be held at The Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PE at 6.30pm. The attendance fee will be waived for Trade Union members. More information and online booking is available here.

New – Election 2015: What’s at stake for work, pay and trade unions?

Contributors: Professor Tonia Novitz, University of Bristol Law School; Professor Ozlem Onaran, University of Greenwich; Dr Lydia Hayes, Cardiff University; Carolyn Jones, Institute of Employment Rights; and James Lazou, Unite the Union.

This guide outlines the scale of the fall in living standards since 2008, the explosion of low-wage, insecure work and how working people and their unions have seen their rights attacked. By explaining the link between strong trade unions, widespread collective bargaining and lower inequality the pamphlet suggests short and long term policy interventions that would improve the living standards of working people and begin to steer the economy in a more equitable direction with collective bargaining at its core.

You can read and download the election guide here.

Publications

Justice Deferred: a critical guide to the Coalition’s employment tribunal reforms

By David Renton and Anna Macey

This publication offers a chilling reminder of the extent to which access to justice is being systematically shut down by the Coalition government.

Trade Unions and Economic Inequality

By Dr Lydia Hayes and Professor Tonia Novitz

What is the point of trade unions? What do they deliver? Are trade unions relevant in 21st century modern society? These and many other questions are answered by the authors of this timely and well presented report. Order your copy here

Re-regulating Zero Hours Contracts

By Zoe Adams and Simon Deakin

ZHCs are highly profitable for employers, but lead to insecurity of income and low pay for workers. The authors point to rigidities in employment law and the operation of the tax-benefit system as being responsible for the rise in zero hours contracting. Order your copy here

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